"Shoot It, Ben!!": Kyrie Irving Begs Ben Simmons To Shoot

October 27, 2022

It was a familiar scene: Ben Simmons has the ball right in front of the basket but doesn't even look at the hoop, instead dishing it out. This time, his teammate, Kyrie Irving, who just delivered him the ball, can be heard on the broadcast screaming at Simmons to shoot it. Listen:

"Shoot it Ben!" implores Kyrie, palms up in a pleading motion. Turns out that Simmons' pass out to Kevin Durant ended up being a fine move as KD hit a mid-range jumper from the top of the key. 

But it no doubt brought back memories for everyone of the infamous play in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals in 2021 that spelled the end of Simmons' time in Philadelphia. Simmons, of course, passed up a wide open layup to pass the ball out to a surprised Matisse Thybulle. 

After the game, though, Irving was standing up for Simmons, telling the media, "he hasn't played in two years, give him a f*ckin' chance." 

"When I passed it to him, I felt like he had a layup at the rim, and I looked at him and I was like, 'Shoot it, Ben!', but.. it's just a clip... This is a big picture thing. We want Ben to be aggressive every single play... 

"We just stay on his sh*t... and we're just here to give him positive affirmations and just let him hoop... It's not an individual job for him to go out there and be a superman."

Through his first four games with the Nets, Simmons has not been a Superman. He has 21 points and 18 fouls and he's fouled out twice. So far, it's been more like kryptonite. But there's still 78 more to play. Brooklyn is 1-3 in those four games. 

Photo: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

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